Exile
by redwolfoz
Summary: Ninth Doctor. Wolf&Declán!verse. 15 minute ficlet series. The Doctor stops by a small Caribbean island and finds more than he bargained for.
1. Isolation

**15 Minutes Ficlets Challenge:** Savoury

* * *

**Isolation**

by Red Wolf

The wolf circled the blue box warily. She'd heard an odd rhythmic mechanical sound, come to investigate and was surprised to find a sign of civilisation, albeit one she'd never seen before, standing under the shade of the trees at the top of the beach.

Getting closer, she sniffed the box. The footprints may have disappeared with the shifting sand, but the scent was still there. Someone had left the box.

Staring up at the door, she cocked her head as she felt more than heard a low hum from within. It was an anomaly, but one she was interested in learning more about. She walked around the box again, before settling down in the shadows to wait for its occupant's return.

* * *

It had seemed a good idea at the time. Drop by an uninhabited Caribbean island to collect a few orchid specimens and be gone again in a couple of hours. The earlier pre-Columbian inhabitants had long ago succumbed to introduced diseases and the island was now a temporary refuge for pirates.

What the Doctor hadn't known was that it had recently been settled. But, while the settlers hadn't been able to make a go of it and had either died or departed, their abandoned livestock had found the place more to their liking.

This was why he was currently running for his life from a very large boar.

He'd managed to keep ahead of the beast when he had the trees and undergrowth to slow it down, but to get to the TARDIS he needed to head for the open ground of the beach which would put him at a distinct disadvantage.

* * *

Looking up as she heard what sounded like a small herd of elephants crashing through the bush, the wolf saw a man race onto the beach with a wild boar close on his heels.

Realising he couldn't outpace his pursuer, the man bounded over an outcropping of boulders and made a grab for a low hanging branch and hauled himself to safety.

The wolf stood, shook herself off and melted into the deeper shadows of the trees.

* * *

Straddling a tree limb, the Doctor watched the boar circling below his perch. It looked like his quick trip was going to turn into an exercise in waiting to see who would make the next move.

He leaned back against the trunk and closed his eyes, making a mental note to have the TARDIS check uninhabited islands for feral livestock next time. With any luck, it shouldn't take long for the pig to get sick of hanging about under the tree and leave. At least, being on a small island, he didn't have to worry about large carnivores.

The Doctor started when he heard the pig squeal in pain. A large wolf had slammed the beast to the ground and had its jaws buried in the animal's throat.

Sighing to himself, the Doctor was quietly thankful that he hadn't mentioned the island being under attack from Godzilla in case a giant papier-mâché dinosaur foot had descended from the sky. He almost wondered if things could get any worse, but that would really be tempting fate.


	2. Empathy

**15 Minutes Ficlets Challenge:** Sentimental

* * *

**Empathy**

by Red Wolf

The Doctor watched as the wolf attacked the boar that had recently been chasing him. Her reddish coat caught the sunlight, as she bowled the huge, bristled boar across the sand and grabbed it by the throat.

The fight looked like a done deal, but when the wolf readjusted her grip on the pig's throat, the great beast pressed its advantage and threw her aside like a rag doll. There was a sickening crack as the wolf's head hit the boulders below the tree where the Doctor was sitting; she didn't get up.

But the boar didn't get much further either. There was an audible wheezing sound as the animal tried to breathe through its torn throat and it stumbled several metres along the beach before collapsing. The growing pool of blood soaking into the sand around its head evidence enough that it wasn't going anywhere.

"Well, that was exciting." The Doctor dropped to the ground, brushed himself off and, checking that his orchid specimens had survived the adventure, headed back to the TARDIS.

As he put his key in the lock, he was more than a little surprised to find that the door refused to open. "Oi! Let me in you infernal machine." His hammering on the door did little to sway the TARDIS.

Turning around, the Doctor leaned against the police box. Looking up the beach he could see the two animals still lying where they'd fallen. A low hum vibrated through the door at his back. "All right, I'll go check, you sentimental, bloody box," the Doctor said as he levered himself upright and retraced his steps.

The boar was dead by the time he returned, which didn't come as much of a shock.

Kneeling beside the wolf, he found she was still alive, although not for much longer judging by the severity of her head trauma. There wasn't a lot he could do in situ, so he picked the wolf up and struggled back to the TARDIS with his unwieldy burden. He glared at the open door that awaited him.

With the medical facilities of the TARDIS at hand, he had a better chance of checking the wolf's injuries.

As he examined her, he found a cord around her neck. It didn't seem to be something she'd accidentally entangled herself in. The leather thong was loose enough to be comfortable, but it easily disappeared into her thick coat. Running a finger around the cord, he discovered a bronze pendant. "Norse, if I'm not mistaken. Fascinating."

It turned out that she had a fractured skull from her head-first encounter with the rocks, some swelling around her brain and a nasty gash across her shoulder where the boar's tusk must have connected.

The broken skin and bones he could repair immediately, but the swelling of her brain would take a while to subside once he activated the appropriate programme. Even with the damage repaired, she'd most likely have a killer headache when she woke up and a large, annoyed carnivore was not something he wanted running about the ship. Bearing that in mind, he double-checked the sedative to ensure she had a chance to sleep off the worst of her injuries.

"Rest easy, girl. When you come around, try to be a little more forgiving of me than you were of the boar." He ran his hand through the thick fur on the wolf's flank and left her in peace.

The Doctor wandered into the console room and ran through the TARDIS' data on the island without finding anything that could answer his questions.

How a boar wound up on the island he could understand, but a wolf shouldn't have been there. They weren't native to the area, the island wasn't large enough to support more than one and it was a mystery to him how a wolf could have ended up there in the first place.

It certainly gave him something to think about.


	3. Acquaint

**15 Minutes Ficlets Challenge:** Linked

* * *

**Acquaint**

by Red Wolf

The wolf woke, dropped to the floor and took in her surroundings. The clean, white and stainless steel room was not what she expected, but it smelled like the outside of the blue box, so it figured that it had to be related.

As she investigated the room, she could see the bench she'd been laying on, cupboards, shelves, monitors, a door, but no windows; an interior room. Tilting her head, she examined the door. It had no handle and no purchase to get her claws around to open it without causing a lot of noise. For the moment, she preferred to keep a low profile until she figured out exactly where she was.

Sitting in front of the closed door, she glared at its blank surface and felt a tingling sensation, like tiny fingers, running over the inside of her skull. The door opened soundlessly and she padded into the corridor beyond.

It was the loud and creative swearing that led her into a room that looked both organic and metallic. A large console was in the centre of the room and a pair of legs protruded out from under it. She raised her snout and sniffed the air. It was definitely the same man she'd seen on the beach.

Quietly walking over to the man, she sat down and ducked her head down to watch him at work. He reached out, feeling around for a tool that had rolled out of his reach. Without thinking, the wolf picked up the tool in a very human hand and placed it in his. She smiled to herself at the absent mumble of thanks, then snickered at the flurry of movement that saw him scramble out of his workspace.

The Doctor stared at woman who was sitting back on her haunches, with her arms wrapped around her legs, returning his stare. He had a moment of deep confusion before he noticed the bronze pendant she wore. "I could swear the last time I saw that hammer, a wolf was wearing it. Wolves don't suddenly turn into humans."

"And humans don't have two hearts." It was an odd rhythm, certainly something she'd never heard before, and it wasn't the only peculiar thing she noticed. "Why can I understand you? Your language isn't familiar, but I know what you're saying."

"It's the TARDIS." He patted the console fondly. "She gets in your head and translates."

"Handy." The woman nodded, it explained the sensation she felt earlier. "It opens doors too."

The Doctor grinned widely. "I'm the Doctor."

"Is that a name or a description?" she asked warily. She wasn't overly fond of doctors. In her experience they tended to be over-enthusiastic in the application of leeches and liked to bleed people at the drop of a hat.

"A bit of both really. So, you got a name?"

"I have lots of names."

Fiddling with his sonic screwdriver, the Doctor wondered what had suddenly changed open curiosity into caution. "How about we start off simple?"

"Wolf."

"Didn't we just have this conversation?" The Doctor laughed as he got to his feet, offering Wolf his hand. "That was a nasty blow you took to the head. I'd like to check everything's okay, but maybe I'd better see what I can do about finding you some clothes first."


	4. Appraisal

**15 Minutes Ficlets Challenge:** Fretful

* * *

**Appraisal**

by Red Wolf

Wolf sat on the bench, kicking her legs and listening to the swish of fabric on fabric. The Doctor had shown her the TARDIS' wardrobe and she'd ferreted out a t-shirt and jeans. She was fascinated with the cut and feel of the garments and ran her fingers over the denim drill, enjoying the tactility of the weave.

She looked up at the Doctor, watching as he fiddled with monitors and scanners and things that made beeping noises. "This medical check isn't going to involve some kind of dodgy surgery, is it?"

"No, no. Nothing intrusive." He waved a scanner over the areas of her injuries and checked the readouts. The Doctor frowned and ran through the data a second time. "There should be an indication of where the fracture was, but it's like it never happened."

"I heal fast." The Doctor looked at her and raised an eyebrow. "And really efficiently." Wolf shrugged, hopped off the bench and wandered around the room. Examining the back of the monitor the Doctor had gone back to frowning at, she ran her fingertips over the vents at the back and smiled at the pleasing noise it made.

The Doctor scrolled through another page to information. "This is odd. According to the readouts, you're biologically compatible with most humanoid and canid-like life forms in the TARDIS' database and, weirdly enough, also the giant gas-based cloud people of Throol." He shook his head. It didn't make sense. Evolution forked to adapt life forms to available conditions. It didn't cast a wide net to take all possible variants into account.

He looked up at Wolf, who'd taken an interest in his sonic screwdriver and was cycling through its settings. "Somebody put a lot of effort into making you."

"That would be my parents." Wolf grinned as a beam shot out the end of the screwdriver. The Doctor rescued it before she accidentally melted something or someone. "They weren't like me."

"Fully human?" Wolf nodded. That made things even more interesting. The ability to manipulate genetics to such a degree would be beyond Earth scientists for centuries. "From what I can see so far, I'd have to guess that whoever cast your ball of DNA rolling was looking to make themselves their own little army."

"Good guess." Wolf looked at the data on the screen. "That's what we used to be, but it was long before my time. There's only a few of us now, making us something of a contingency plan." She ran a finger along a row of data. "Ooo... I can breed with Hyenas. Kinky."

Sighing, the Doctor wondered if her short attention span was built in or she came by it naturally. He smiled, at least he'd always be able to distract her with shiny objects. You never knew when that would come in handy.


	5. Skim

**15 Minutes Ficlets Challenge:** Anticipation

* * *

**Skim**

by Red Wolf

Wolf had listened closely while the Doctor explained what the TARDIS did. She didn't understand how it moved through time and space but she did grasp that it did.

The Doctor was still trying to get a grip on her reactions to things that should have been outside her comprehension. She had a distrust of 18th century medical practitioners, but was unfazed by medical scanners, monitors and his sonic screwdriver. She was also more than familiar with the quirks of her own genetic make up.

"So..." Wolf interrupted the Doctor's musings. "You going to give me a practical demonstration?"

"You don't want to go back to the island?"

Wolf made a complicated hand motion of dismissal. The Doctor had last seen someone use it in Renaissance Italy and, at the time, it had been quite a vulgar gesture. "I've seen more than enough palm trees to last me a while and I think the pigs would be happier without me eating them."

"Fair enough." The Doctor started hitting buttons, throwing switches and turning knobs. He grinned widely as the TARDIS started moving, watching Wolf from the corner of his eye to see what she made of the TARDIS in motion. She held onto a support column and road out the bumpy landing, but her expression was one of curiosity, not fear. It was most peculiar.

Checking the outside environment on a monitor, the Doctor declared it safe for all and sundry and held out a hand to Wolf, who took it and let him lead her to the door.

A gentle grassy expanse extended down to a vast body of water. It could have been a large lake or even an ocean, as its far shore was beyond their view. A soft breeze rippled through the grasses as they walked to the water's edge.

Wolf took in her surroundings. She plucked a blade of grass, sniffed it and bit into it. She tasted the earth and found another similar yet different taste. Even the water was not quite right. It looked like Earth, it even smelled like Earth, but the tastes and colours were slightly off. "I know where we aren't, but it's a close facsimile."

The Doctor had been watching her in fascination. Humans didn't test their environment that way, but animals did. She was a bundle of contradictions.

"This is Debthic and you're right about it's similarities to Earth. It almost matches Earth's distance from its sun and will eventually spawn a race of people comparable to humans but branching from a cetacean ancestor instead of a primate one." 

"I hope that works out better for them." She walked along the shore, picking up shells and examining them. "What's the time difference from where we were?" Checking his watch, the Doctor read off a very precise figure that Wolf truncated to a handier unit of 10,000 years. Wolf stopped her meandering walk, got a look of intense concentration on her face for an instant before relaxing into a smile.

"What the hell was that?" The Doctor was stabbing furiously as a small scanner. "It felt like a wormhole was trying to open."

"What's a wormhole?" Wolf tilted her head, watching the Doctor continuing to take readings.

"It's like a fold in space from one point to another."

"Like a portal or doorway?" Wolf questioned.

"Yeah, something like that. Did you feel it?"

"I caused it."

The Doctor stopped his scans and stared at her. "Do it again."

Wolf concentrated, grabbed her nexus point and released it again. She felt the TARDIS touching her mind during the attempt. "Just thought I'd check to see if I could still do it." She'd never considered that her ability to summon a portal would work on other planets. It meant that wherever the portals led, it probably wasn't Earth as she'd always assumed it to be.

The scanner had given the Doctor more of an idea of what she was doing. "Can you open it completely?"

Shrugging her shoulders, Wolf bend to pick up a handful of small flat rocks and started skipping them across the water's surface. "Either I'm still in the bad books or it recognises that you have the technology to track it back."

Catching her meaning, the Doctor laughed. "So what did you do to get exiled to an island in the middle of nowhere?"

"Committed a bit of a social faux pas against a toff and scored a ten year banishment from the Family." Wolf skipped another stone with practiced ease. "They don't care if I leave the island, but I if I contact the Family without good reason, exile will be the least of my worries."

The Doctor could hear the capitalisation she accorded her family and could only assume it was something of a rocky relationship. "So you can travel anywhere with these portals, then?"

Wolf shook her head. "No. One way only and only one destination. If I want to leave, I have to ask someone to send me out. It's a little like having a key to get out of a situation, but the only thing it unlocks is the front door of the Chief Magistrate's office, so you'd better have a bloody good reason for being there."

Interesting indeed. The Doctor would have to check her medical scans again. It sounded like she'd been implanted with a secure one-way teleportation device, certainly not the kind of thing that was common on 18th century Earth.

Someone was playing silly buggers with humans for their own private reasons and he was interested to find out more. But with Wolf cut off from the source, it might prove something of a challenge to find out anything more. He watched another stone skip across the water. Even if her didn't learn anything about her origins, Wolf was certainly full of surprises and might be worth keeping around.


	6. Ferment

**15 Minutes Ficlets Challenge:** Fever

* * *

**Ferment**

by Red Wolf

The Doctor groaned as he tried to sit up. He'd spent the past day fighting his body's attempts to expel all forms of sustenance by any means available. Just as it was getting to the point where he was wondering if he'd ever be able to eat or drink anything again, it stopped and he'd passed out in exhaustion.

Sleep had helped, but he'd woken to discover that his balance was shot. Settling back in bed, the Doctor waited until the waves of dizziness passed.

The medical resources of the TARDIS had lessened the virus' effect and dealing with the reduced symptoms was not particularly pleasant, but as the virus had killed thousands of people at their last stopover, he should probably consider himself fortunate. He was just lucky Wolf appeared to have missed picking up the bug, as she'd been left with the unenviable task of getting him back to the TARDIS and looking after him.

When he thought about it, Wolf had proved surprisingly resistant to any number of diseases they'd encountered in their travels. No coughs, colds or hideously itchy rashes. She'd also managed to survive being poisoned (unintentionally or otherwise), shot, stabbed, burned and throttled. Her talent for misadventure, especially for causing the trouble that got her into the predicaments in the first place, made her look like the most troublesome companion he'd had aboard the TARDIS.

He laughed to himself, gripping the bed firmly as he felt his head swim again. Not long after she'd joined him, the Doctor had referred to her as his companion and Wolf had vehemently denied the role. It seemed she saw herself more as the TARDIS' pet, which may not have been far off the mark with the way she roamed about the place. As far as he knew, she'd never settled on a bedroom and he never even knew where she was half the time.

"Feeling better?"

The Doctor looked up from his musings to see Wolf standing at the foot of his bed. As usual, he hadn't heard her approach. "What have you found now?"

Wolf held a shiny, plumb bob-like device in each hand. The spindly legs of one device began to twitch and Wolf shook it vigorously by its thick tail until it stilled. "Some kind of nanobot parasite the TARDIS invited along. They were supposed to perform small maintenance tasks, but found a spillage they liked and started to get a little bigger than they should. I've been hunting them." She grinned in delight, her green eyes flashing brightly.

The Doctor smiled. One more mystery of what she got up to on her own was solved.

"I'll just go and feed these little buggers into the metal recycler and see if I can find something for you to eat."

"As long as you don't try to cook anything." The Doctor shuddered. He'd spent enough time throwing up of late, and he didn't feel the need to repeat the experience any time soon.


	7. Reward

**15 Minutes Ficlets Challenge:** Glisten

* * *

**Reward**

by Red Wolf

Wolf scowled as she walked at the Doctor's side through the busy marketplace. "You're loving this, aren't you?" It had only meant to be a quick trip in search of supplies and looked to be turning into a royal command performance.

The more Wolf sulked, the wider the Doctor's grin grew. "The chance to dress up and have dinner with the Duke? What's not to like?"

"Don't know why you're excited, it's not like you bothered dressing up."

"Changed my jumper, didn't I?" Wolf glared at his stock wardrobe solution. "At least I managed shoes and avoided a bondage suit." The Doctor had vetoed her plan to wear a great kilt, mostly because of the battleaxe she insisted was an integral part of the garment, but was stuck with her backup plan of dressing as his bodyguard in weapon-studded leather. She still refused to wear footwear, but at least she'd chosen more discrete weapons as accessories.

Several passers-by waved and called out greetings to them. Wolf nodded in response and smiled tightly. She was not enjoying the attention. "Can't we just go back to the stall where the nice man was selling shiny things?" Wolf sighed; she could almost feel the protective oil coating his wares as she ran her fingers over them. All those billets of raw matériel, metals she had never before encountered, were calling to her.

The Doctor nudged her. "Be it on your own head for saving the Duke's son from a crushed skull."

Wolf snorted in disgust. It had been a reflex action of self-preservation. A heavy awning had fallen and she'd caught it before it hit her head, She hadn't even realised the child had been in danger until after the fact. "If I knew it would cause this much fuss, I would have let the little bastard die."

A quick look at her face told the Doctor that she wasn't joking. It seemed that social gatherings in the company of the community's elite were not something she was comfortable in attending. He stopped her, placed his hands on her shoulders and looked into her eyes. "We don't have to do this. I can make our apologies and we can leave, if you'd prefer."

Taking a deep breath, Wolf considered the Doctor's offer carefully. "I'll tough it out. I gave you my word, even if it was under duress." She grinned at him cheekily and nodded towards the château's entrance gates. "Time to enter the dragon's den."

"Best behaviour?" The Doctor squeezed her shoulder.

"I'll do my best."


	8. Interim

**15 Minutes Ficlets Challenge:** Acceptance

* * *

**Interim**

by Red Wolf

Wolf had been polite, but jumpy, while the Duke and Duchess had thanked her for saving their son's life. Once the happy parents had been called away to their duties of meeting and greeting, Wolf relaxed into her guise as the Doctor's bodyguard and glared menacingly at anyone approaching.

The Doctor thought they might need to leave early before his companion terrified the wrong person, when the local metalwork guild master introduced himself and caught her interest.

He smiled fondly as he watched her, now deep in conversation with the heavyset guild master and a high ranking military man. She may not have been fond of pomp and circumstance, but find something that interested her and she was happy.

It was more than he could say for himself, as he chatted to several mindless bureaucrats and hangers-on, but at least they were better than the elderly letch who offered to buy Wolf. The Doctor was almost tempted to take the man up on his offer just to see how long he lived after taking ownership of his new toy.

Noticing the servants finishing preparations for dinner, he waved to Wolf, who excused herself from her conversation and joined him. He smiled when she noticed his hands twitch at her approach and sighed softly as she brushed her fingers over his before assuming a proper stance at his side.

He'd found that he seemed crave physical contact with other life forms more in his current incarnation. Perhaps it wasn't that surprising with all he'd gone through that he needed to be reminded that he wasn't completely alone. Having someone to share the TARDIS with helped. When Wolf did manage to surface from the depths of his ship, they practically lived on top of one another, which was literally true when they worked together under the console flooring panels. Their legs interlaced as they ate at the bench in the kitchen and they leaned against one another in the library. It was a comfort that he didn't realise he was seeking until he had to play the employer / employee game tonight.

"Having fun?" The Doctor nodded at the men Wolf had just left.

"I wouldn't say fun, but it was interesting. Roberto, the guild master, has some new alloys that sound fascinating." Wolf sighed, she itched to see what she could do with the alloys. "So, how about you, learn anything new?"

The grinned widely. "I'll have you know I'm all caught up on local gossip."

Wolf snorted in amusement. "Good to see you're spending your time productively." They followed the other guests who were moving into the dining room.

Leaning close, so only Wolf could hear, the Doctor whispered in her ear. "Just don't blame me if you make an inappropriate comment about mutton to the sheep-shagging second cousin, then."


	9. Repast

**15 Minutes Ficlets Challenge:** Jubilant

* * *

**Repast**

by Red Wolf

Wolf was happier with their other dining companions. Hammell, her new military friend, had managed to wangle a seat at their table, allowing them to continue their discussion of weapons and tactics. Hammell's attaché, a young, sharp faced man named Jenner, was his companion for the evening and he took every opportunity to glare daggers at Wolf. She briefly wondered if she was committing some social faux pas by using the wrong fork or had spinach in her teeth, but found she really didn't care.

The Doctor was amused to note that Wolf was surreptitiously sniffing the food before eating it. She couldn't break the habit. He knew she had a nose for discovering what was safe to eat, but she also had an interesting sense of curiosity. Her recent decision to mix two alien alcohols had proven both delicious and seen their top layer of skin turn a bright blue for three weeks. He made sure to keep any strange beverages out of her reach during dinner.

As the final course was cleared, a band started up and people either took to the dance floor or excused themselves to continue their pre-dinner conversations. Apparently the music was also the signal for the hunt to start. A gaggle of young women prowled the dining room, searching out anyone who had caught their fancy during dining. The group had set their sights on Jenner and were descending en masse when Wolf came to his rescue and dragged him onto the dance floor.

The women then turned their attention to the Doctor, losing interest when he told them that he own no land or businesses. He chuckled as they drifted on to their next mark and returned to watching Wolf dance. She was competent dancer, but she should have been so much better. He seen her fight and spar and train; she was graceful, all movements flowing from one to the next, but that elegance did not translate to her dance moves.

Hammell had taken over from Jenner and, as the song wound down, the Doctor took the opportunity to cut in.

"You looked to be getting on with young Jenner." The Doctor nodded behind them, where Hammell and Jenner had returned to the table.

"He thought I was horning in on Hammell."

"Fancies him, does he?"

Wolf grinned. "Thought they should have a chat. Clear the air."

The Doctor sucked air through his teeth. "That could get messy." He could see the men were talking to each other and it hadn't come to blows yet, so that had to be a good thing. Of course, they could just be discussing sports scores.

"Nah. I reckon they'll be fine. They're good people."

The Doctor had to agree. It hadn't escaped his notice that Hammell had been keeping Wolf well away from the elderly lech who'd expressed an interest in buying her.

"Looks like you're finding your feet at last." Wolf was noticeably less awkward on her feet.

She shrugged. "Must be the company."

"You could be right. I am good." He smiled as Wolf made a rude noise.

The music ended and they returned to their table, just as their combustible married dining companions stormed off in opposite directions. Hammell and Jenner shrugged their ignorance when the Doctor raised a questioning eyebrow. Nobody was terribly surprised.

An older, florid man took the opportunity to take one of the vacated seats and made loud throat clearing noises.

Recognising the man, the Doctor laid a warning hand on Wolf's thigh. She squeezed his hand and turned to her attention to Hammell, whose jaw had tensed at the newcomer's intrusion.

When his unsubtle signals and attempts at talking over Hammell were ignored, he slouched back in his chair and stretched out.

Feeling a foot run up the inside of her thigh, Wolf threw back her chair, grabbed the foot, yanked the man under the table and knelt on his chest. She ran her tongue over her right canine, then her left, before smiling widely as she pushed a parfait spoon into the skin below his eye and neatly popping it out of its socket. She felt Hammell take her elbow and gently draw her to her feet.

The screaming of the man on the floor added a nice counterpoint to the jaunty beat of the current musical number. The Doctor flashed Wolf a sympathetic smile as he knelt beside the thrashing man and, using the same spoon, deftly reseated the eye in its proper orbit. The pitch of the man's screams quickly changed from fear to bloody murder and he demanded justice for the attack.

As the château guards headed over to settle the dispute, Hammell moved to intercept them. He may have just met Wolf, but he had enough of an idea that if she'd meant permanent damage she would have caused it. This was a playful warning shot, a fact unfortunately lost on her slow-witted victim.

With Hammell talking to the guards on Wolf's behalf, the Doctor took the opportunity of his distraction to press something small into her hand.

Deferring to Hammell's rank, the guards stepped aside to allow him to escort Wolf from the dining room. With the commotion and excited voices fading behind them, Wolf removed the tiny object from between her fingers and surreptitiously pressed the device into her ear. She heard the Doctor's amused chuckle. "Didn't I mention something about inappropriate comments and the sheep-shagging second cousin? Try not to kill anyone while I sort this out, yeah."


	10. Athenaeum

**15 Minutes Ficlets Challenge:** Odious

* * *

**Athenaeum**

by Red Wolf

Hammell walked through the halls of the château with Wolf on his arm. With Hammell resplendent in his full dress uniform and Wolf in leather and bare feet, they made for an odd couple.

"I take it you're not really the Doctor's bodyguard."

Wolf smiled as she looked up at Hammell. "I'm not hired as his bodyguard, if that's what you're asking, but I'm more than capable of doing the job."

"I noticed that." Hammell chuckled warmly and patted Wolf's hand. "But you didn't need to play the part."

"Ah." Wolf nodded in understanding as they walked past yet another stern looking family portrait. "If I had dressed in something more conventional I would have spent the evening trapped in the clutches of that hideous woman at our table and been forced to nod politely as she rabbitted on about her poor husband and whatever gossip floats her boat. And would I probably never would have met you or Jenner or Roberto."

"That would have been a shame," Hammell agreed. "But you wouldn't have caught the attention of your new suitor either."

Waving the concern away, Wolf's voice hardened. "Better he picked me than someone who couldn't fight him off."

"A fair call." Bowing his head in acknowledgement, Hammell opened a door and ushered Wolf into a large book-lined room. "I have to give Jenner a hand in quieting things down. I trust you'll stay here until we have your little problem sorted out."

"You have my word." Hammell bowed formally and left Wolf to her own devices in the library.

Wolf was quite pleased with her temporary accommodations. It beat a holding cell and offered much in the way of distractions. She examined the shelves, selecting books at random and examining them. After finding a romance, a fairy tale and a science tome shelved side by side, she decided that the library had been categorised by a madman. Looking around the walls, she realised that the madman in question had been an illiterate interior designer who ordered books in bulk by size and colour, and then shelved them so the spine titles formed pretty patterns. She shuddered, certain that such behaviour should be declared a killing offence.

"Now that you've finished flirting with Hammell, perhaps you can turn you're attention to the matter at hand." She didn't hear the Doctor's voice in her ear so much as in her head. It was oddly disconcerting.

"I don't flirt." The earpiece the Doctor had handed her transmitted both voice and surface thoughts via the TARDIS, which came in handy if you were under surveillance or didn't want to be caught in the middle of a crowd talking to yourself.

The Doctor didn't reply. Wolf had limited people skills. She was fine with someone like Hammell or Roberto where she shared an interest, but blunt to the point of uselessness with most people. In general, she was belligerent and had a tendency to rant, although, oddly enough, she was more mellow when intoxicated, if prone to kiss complete strangers. "I've been chatting to that floating herd of debutantes and, while they found your stalker unpleasant, it was more an impression than anything he may have said. He might stand a chance of throwing his weight around and claiming an unprovoked attack, in which case I suggest for start looking to make your escape."

Wolf selected another book and flicked through it, an engineering book this time. She frowned in thought as she looked at the diagrams. "I think he picked me because he mistook me for your property. I wasn't part of his social circle and he saw me as fair game."

"Which means he won't have been hitting on the local talent." The Doctor followed her train of thought. "You think this was targeted to type or status?"

Settling herself in one of the library's comfortable chairs, Wolf considered the question. "Both. I think he's smart enough not to shit in his own nest, so he'll see most people at the party as untouchable. Have a chat to Roberto and see if he's had any female apprentices disappear. I get the impression this bloke wants to play with strong women."

"Might be worth having a chat with Hammell and Jenner too, then. See if they've lost any military lasses. Try and stay out of trouble, yeah."

Wolf had managed to find several more engineering and metallurgy books in the hodgepodge collection. She was spending her time making copious notes and comparisons on her reading material with the TARDIS while tuning out the Doctor's conversations with their dinner companions. She'd amassed quite a pile of books before she heard back directly from the Doctor.

"Just got a note from Jenner." Wolf could hear the smugness in his voice. "You pegged the bastard. Jenner sent some men around to his house and they found a couple of drugged girls in the basement. One had gone missing recently from Roberto's guild, the other from the leatherworker's guild. This bloke is in some serious shit." The library door was flung open and the Doctor walked into the room with a huge grin on his face. "You're in the clear." He grabbed Wolf in a bear hug.

"I'd better go thank Hammell and Jenner." Wolf returned the Doctor's grin. "Then we should get out of here before I really manage to upset the wrong person."


End file.
